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Carnival Detournement
Carnival Detournement in Bloomington, MN
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Carnival Detournement
is
Hamster Theatre
's third album and the first to be released on an important record label. It is no surprise that this duo has been picked up by
Cuneiform
. Of course, co-leader
Dave Willey
plays bass with labelmate
Thinking Plague
, but
fits perfectly into the avant-prog aesthetic the label has helped develop since the early '80s. From the intricate compositions relying as much on complex (or "progressive") rock as on contemporary chamber music down to the silly song titles like
"What Makes You Think This Is a Good Place to Bring a Date?"
and
"Drunken Penguin Tango"
(aren't these reminiscent of
Forever Einstein
titles?),
is a top-of-the-barrel avant-prog fan's delight.
Bob Drake
's production is sleek without stripping the music of its authenticity. The album's title says it all: this is music of the carnival, a place where everything -- rock, contemporary, folk, Western, Eastern European, serious, ludicrous -- can meet and blend together for the fun of it. The result is not a hodgepodge, but rather complex pieces that recall early
Motor Totemist Guild
,
Cartoon
Miriodor
, and the like, with an extra sense of the bizarre and the misplaced. Leaders
(accordion, keyboards, guitars, percussion) and
Jon Stubbs
(trombone, keyboards, guitars) handle most of the writing and playing, but they are joined by ten additional musicians, including
members
Mark Harris
Mike Johnson
.
"Vermilion Hue Over Lake Lausanne"
opens the dance with a reggae number in the style of
Frank Zappa
(remember the master's 1988 tour?), which suddenly shape-shifts into a furious
Plague
-like riff. Other highlights include the beautiful accordion/glockenspiel melody of
"Jeanne-Marie"
and the orgiastic rock number
"Bur Di Lie Town So."
Very strongly recommended. [Following
's initial release,
Willey
Stubbs
expressed misgivings about having tinkered with
's master tape, which they claimed had resulted in a "squashing (of) the sonic palette he had created," and in 2009
, in apparent agreement, reissued the CD in a Collectors Edition that restored the album to its originally mastered form.] ~ Francois Couture
is
Hamster Theatre
's third album and the first to be released on an important record label. It is no surprise that this duo has been picked up by
Cuneiform
. Of course, co-leader
Dave Willey
plays bass with labelmate
Thinking Plague
, but
fits perfectly into the avant-prog aesthetic the label has helped develop since the early '80s. From the intricate compositions relying as much on complex (or "progressive") rock as on contemporary chamber music down to the silly song titles like
"What Makes You Think This Is a Good Place to Bring a Date?"
and
"Drunken Penguin Tango"
(aren't these reminiscent of
Forever Einstein
titles?),
is a top-of-the-barrel avant-prog fan's delight.
Bob Drake
's production is sleek without stripping the music of its authenticity. The album's title says it all: this is music of the carnival, a place where everything -- rock, contemporary, folk, Western, Eastern European, serious, ludicrous -- can meet and blend together for the fun of it. The result is not a hodgepodge, but rather complex pieces that recall early
Motor Totemist Guild
,
Cartoon
Miriodor
, and the like, with an extra sense of the bizarre and the misplaced. Leaders
(accordion, keyboards, guitars, percussion) and
Jon Stubbs
(trombone, keyboards, guitars) handle most of the writing and playing, but they are joined by ten additional musicians, including
members
Mark Harris
Mike Johnson
.
"Vermilion Hue Over Lake Lausanne"
opens the dance with a reggae number in the style of
Frank Zappa
(remember the master's 1988 tour?), which suddenly shape-shifts into a furious
Plague
-like riff. Other highlights include the beautiful accordion/glockenspiel melody of
"Jeanne-Marie"
and the orgiastic rock number
"Bur Di Lie Town So."
Very strongly recommended. [Following
's initial release,
Willey
Stubbs
expressed misgivings about having tinkered with
's master tape, which they claimed had resulted in a "squashing (of) the sonic palette he had created," and in 2009
, in apparent agreement, reissued the CD in a Collectors Edition that restored the album to its originally mastered form.] ~ Francois Couture
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